Rose Again
by Dramatic-ADD-Having-ass-Writer
Summary: (Sequel to Someone Else) The moms agree to send Callie to Girls United, in fear of losing her to a psychopath serial killer that has become obsessed with her. Can Rita and the other girls help her with deal with her problems? Or will she be forced to close them off too? (Summary of first fic included, so you're not forced to read it)
1. Chapter 1

_This is the sequel to my fic Someone Else. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do before you continue. HOWEVER, just in case you don't want to read all 32 chapters, I'll try to sum up the main points to the best of my ability, so that you can follow this one… _

**Quick Summary: Rather than go into the convenience store and get arrested like she did in episode 1x11, Callie began talking to the prostitutes that were outside of the store and befriended them. They gave her the name ROSE and told her never to use her real name, and that's when she became one of them. She lived with the three girls for a few weeks, as well as Jeff, a 29-year-old pimp. Jeff charmed her at first, but Callie quickly realized that he was bad news, when she saw him losing his temper and admitted to killing one of the girls. Callie called home, while she was drunk one day, and Stef answered the phone, only to hear an argument between Jeff and Callie. Both moms drove all the way to Arizona to find her in fear for her life. When they finally got to her, she kept on referring to herself as ROSE instead of Callie. They refused to call her by that name, because it was obvious that she was trying to hide behind it, in order to escape the consequences of her actions. In her mind, she knew that she wasn't Rose, but every time she felt uncomfortable with something Rose gave her the strength to get passed it. However, Rose also gave the strength to do very stupid things that put her life in danger as well. When she came back home, she vowed never to hide behind the name again, because she felt that she didn't need to anymore. She also vowed not to hide from her feelings toward Brandon, because denying them only got her into a lot of trouble when she ran away. Jeff was enraged that Callie left and he got arrested on the same day. While he was in jail, his brother Matt, tried to kidnap Callie so that he could kill her and keep her from testifying. Stef caught wind of this and saved her, but her Captain took her gun and shield, leaving Stef defenseless until Jeff's trial. The day before the trial, Jeff broke into their house and held the entire Foster family hostage. He didn't want to kill Callie because he knew that would be the easy route. He wanted her to suffer and knew that she would suffer more if she had to watch one of her other family members die. He pointed the gun with one bullet at every single one of them until Callie was able to break free and jump in front of Stef. Long story short, Callie got shot in the crossfire. The police came and Captain Roberts shot Jeff twice in the chest. Both of them had to be taken to the hospital. Jeff managed to escape, after killing both of the police officers that escorted him there. Callie had surgery and had stayed at the hospital for 2 weeks. Toward the very end, Lena was conversing with Stef. She was telling her that she made a decision in order to protect Callie as well as the rest of her family. The decision to send Callie away until the police found Jeff. He obviously wasn't going to stop until he got what he wanted, which was revenge. And the moms had to do what was best for everyone, something that they viewed as only temporary.**

* * *

I woke up this morning expecting to find Stef and Lena sitting beside my hospital bed, but they were nowhere in sight.

_This is strange_, I thought.

_At least one of them hadn't left my side since I got out of surgery…_

I knew that it was stupid, but I couldn't help but feel afraid.

_I shouldn't be. _

_Jeff is in jail, right? _

David from Child Protective Services knocked on the door that was wide open.

_Why the hell would he knock on the door if he could just come in?_ I wondered.

"Callie, can I come in?"

"Sure," I said unsure of what he was doing here to begin with.

"How are you feeling?" he asks.

"A little sore. What's wrong? Why are you here?" I knew that it was rude not to ask about his day, but his being here was making me incredibly irritable.

"Callie, you are being discharged today, correct?"

"Yes?"

"I'm here to sign you out."

"What about Stef and Lena?" I asked trying to hide the fact that my heart was about to drop a thousand stories, if he were to tell me what I think he was.

"I'm sorry, Callie. They thought that this was the best decision for everyone."

I tried to blink away the tears that began to form in my eyes and shake away my own emotions toward this. I thought about what was most important and the tears didn't fall, "What about Jude? Where's he?"

"Jude will be staying with them, and they've already started the adoption paperwork on him. They wanted me to tell you that you didn't have to worry about him at all."

I nodded my head and tried to accept what David was telling me. "Okay…Good," I forced myself to smile.

"It's only temporary."

"Yeah?" I gave a short laugh.

_I should've remembered that much. _

_During my first week at the Fosters, Stef told me the exact same thing. _

_It was only temporary. _

_I should've listened from the beginning rather than get attached to them._

"Callie," David tried to soothe me.

"No, I get it. I'll be down in a second. I just want to brush my teeth first," I told him.

To be honest, we both knew that I needed a minute to myself.

"Sure. I'll be right downstairs," he answered as he left the room.

I ran into the bathroom and closed the door behind me, sinking onto the floor as I ran through every little thing that I had done wrong in my mind.

I buried my face into my hands and hated myself for expecting so much from them.

Everyone has their breaking point, but I was stupid enough to think that I still hadn't reached it with them.

_They hadn't signed up for this. _

A girl with so much baggage and so many problems that just keep increasing by the second.

I let out a deep breath and leaned my arms against the sink, as I tried to channel Rose.

_Rose wouldn't care about losing another family._

_Rose was stronger than the way I had just acted._

_Rose would be the one to get me through this._

* * *

Stef and Lena watched as Jude strolled into the kitchen. He was excited this morning because he knew that Callie was being discharged today. He was glad that she was finally coming home and had gotten up extra early to be there to pick her up.

The moment he stepped into the kitchen, he saw Stef and Lena's disheveled hair matched with their stressed out expressions.

"Are we going to pick up Callie, now?" he asked trying to lighten up the mood.

Lena walked over from her spot near their fridge and ushered Jude towards one of the seats, "That's what we wanted to talk to you about, honey."

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly as he took a seat on one of the chairs.

Lena looked at Stef for support but Stef glanced down in an effort to hide her anger. "Callie's not coming home," Lena answered calmly.

"Why? The doctors want to keep her for longer?" he asked sadly.

"No, that's not it… We don't think that it's a good idea for Callie to come back here right now. It's far too dangerous since Jeff is still out there, and we don't want him to come after her."

"What!" Jude snapped.

Stef sighed loudly and shook her head, not wanting to glance over and see the disappointment all over his face.

Lena paused and then found her voice again, "We want to keep her safe and you guys safe, but we can't do that if Jeff knows that she is back here."

"So you're getting rid of her? Because you're scared!" He raised his voice to Lena. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from her.

Stef walked over to him and grabbed his hand into her own, "No, we are not getting rid of her," she answered sternly. "We are trying to do what's best for her until the police find Jeff."

"By abandoning her?" Jude's voice was still loud and his face was beginning to turn a light pinkish color. Stef could feel his hand clenching into a fist in her own, and she tried to rub circles around it, in an effort to calm him.

"She won't be alone, Jude. She will have plenty of people who will look out for her. And this is only temporary," Stef tried to give him comforting words, but deep down she knew that there weren't any. There was nothing she could say that could make delivering this information easy for them.

"If Callie's not here, then I don't want to be here either," Jude snatched his hand from Stef's and began to stand up.

"Jude," Lena and Stef said at the same time.

"No! My sister took a bullet for you and you're giving up on her!" Jude replied with tears in his eyes as he glared at Stef. "I don't want to be here without her!"

Both moms watched helplessly as he turned and left the kitchen. Seconds later they heard him stomping up the stairs.

Lena wiped away the tears in her eyes.

"Still think you're doing the right thing?" Stef asked sarcastically.

"He'll forgive me when she comes back."

"If she comes back," Stef reminded her.

"She will."

"We'll see," Stef answered her wife as she grabbed her coffee mug to follow Jude up the stairs.

Lena hated that Stef wasn't on her side about this. She needed her now more than ever, and she had never felt so distant from her wife in the ten years they spent together.

This wasn't an easy decision for her to make either.

She loved Callie just as much as she loved Stef and all of her kids, but she was the one being criticized for trying to protect them all.

_Why couldn't they just see that she was making the right decision, even if it was the wrong one at the same time?_

* * *

David pulled his car up in front of a brown house and I figured this was the place he had been referring to during the entire ride.

"How long do I have to be here?" I asked him before I got out of the car.

"I'm not sure Callie. Could be a few weeks or a few months."

"Or a few years?" I asked annoyed by his response.

"This is a safe place, Callie."

"They all are, aren't they?" I ask sarcastically.

I think about all of the times a C.P.S. worker had called each an every crappy foster home a "safe place."

"You'll be alright here," he assured me as he opened his car door and walked around to open mine's. I grabbed my duffel bag from the backseat and slowly followed him to the front porch.

The door automatically opened the second we reach the stairs and an older brunette woman stepped out to greet us, "Hi, David. Hi, Callie." She holds out her hand for me to shake and I do. I couldn't help but be surprised by how stern her handshake was. "I'm Rita, welcome to Girls United…"

TBC...

_**Okay, so I have been dying to include Rita in one of my fics but hadn't found a spot to do it until now. And I didn't want to have to write an entirely new fic either, because I don't have the time for that, so I just put her in here :)**_

_**Also, I thought it'd be interesting to see how different things would've turned out if Callie had a more experienced criminal background than she had in the show and had a lot more emotional problems as well. If you read "Someone Else" you know exactly what I'm talking about.**_

_**Anyways, let me know what you guys think so far.**_

_**And thank you for reading :)**_


	2. Chapter 2

"…Come on in," Rita offers as she invites us both inside.

I couldn't help but glance at the brown sign near the entrance of the door. In gold lettering it read, **GIRLS UNITED, Home for troubled girls working toward establishing trust, self-confidence and personal leadership.**

I glance back at David after silently reading it and give him a "Are you for real?" look. He had mentioned that I would be staying into a group home and talked about it throughout most of the ride; however the moment I heard where he was taking me, I completely blanked out. I hadn't listened to a word he said after hearing the words "Group Home", which didn't help me any, because I had no idea what I was walking into.

I walk inside and glance around the house, spotting two girls sitting at the kitchen table. They were doing what looks to be homework.

Rita continues to talk, "I'll show you to your room after you meet all the girls. There are seven girls who live here full time. Actually one just went home yesterday, so your timing was kind of perfect." She smiled at me as if I should be lucky to be here.

_It was a group home. _

_Why the hell should I be happy that I would never be fostered again?_

David continued, "We appreciate you taking in Callie on such short notice. Your foster-moms worked very hard to get you in here."

"I bet they did," I answer sarcastically.

_How hard was it to sign me away to be someone else's problem?_ I think to myself.

"Do I have to share a room?" I ask the woman in an effort to change the subject.

_Callie honestly didn't want to hear about the Fosters anymore. _

_Rose wouldn't let her._

Rita's face straightens, "Yes, you will."

I nod my head. _Great… _"Why are there no bars or security-gates? How do you lock us in?"

"We don't. We trust that you won't leave the premises."

_Thank G_od! I think to myself.

_They're making escaping this place easier and easier for you,_ Rose tells me.

Rita practically reads my mind and continues, "But if you violate that trust, then you go to juvie. Or you're placed in a more restrictive group home. The choice is really yours."

"None of this is my choice," I mumble as I glance around the house again.

I'm not sure if she hears me. If she does, she chooses to ignore the comment. "Hey girls! Come meet Callie!" she calls out to them.

"Rose," I say flatly.

"Excuse me?" she asks confusingly.

"I prefer to be called Rose. You can call me Callie if you want but I won't answer," I tell her.

She looks at me strangely, as if she thinks I'm an insane person or something. But Rose doesn't care.

She replies with a simple, "Uh-huh."

I watch as a bunch of faces come toward us and pass me as they enter the living room. All of the girls walk pass me with glaring eyes, but Rose's stare is ten times all of theirs combined.

When the last girl passes me, Rose couldn't help but be enraged. I could never forget the face of the girl who initiated the incident on my last day of juvie. And Rose was preparing me for anything that could happen now.

* * *

Stef began walking up the stairs knowing that she should be the one to talk to Jude. Neither her nor Lena discussed Callie's situation with any of the other kids yet, but they knew that it'd be better if they did it separately. They couldn't deal with all 4 kids yelling at once.

Stef opens Jesus' and Jude's bedroom door and sees that the light is still off, but there's enough light so that she can see what's going on. Jude was grabbing his clothes from the mahogany dresser and throwing them inside of his blue duffel bag.

"What are you doing?" Stef asks him with a confused look on her face. She slightly spills some of the coffee from her over-filled coffee mug all over her fingers.

"I'm leaving!" Jude answers as he continues to grab his socks and boxers from the drawer and tosses it into his bag. He turns around to grab more clothes, not wanting to continue the conversation.

Stef sighs and walks over to his the bed, grabbing the duffel bag in her hands. She then proceeds to put his clothes back in the drawer.

"What are you doing?" he snaps as he reaches back into the drawer to pull out the clothes that she was putting away. He begins tossing them onto the bed. When he tried to grab his empty duffel bag from her hand, she held him back with her own.

"Jude, stop," she says in frustrated voice.

"Then, give me my bag!" he yells back as he reaches for it again.

"What the heck is going on?" Jesus asks as he begins to wake up from all of the commotion. He could barely open his eyes, but he heard Jude yelling, something that was very new to him.

"You can have your room back Jesus! Just like you wanted! As soon as Stef gives me back my bag!"

"You are not getting this bag, Jude, so just forget it."

He glares at the woman with venom building up in his eyes, "Callie and I are a package deal! If you don't want her, then you don't want me!"

Stef takes a seat on Jude's bed and looks back at the young boy, "Jude, we still want her. But we want to make sure that she's safe too, and the only way to do that is to keep her away for a while. I promise you that the minute the police find Jeff, Callie will be on her way back here."

"Why can't I go with her too? I don't like being away from her," he answers angrily.

"I know that sweets and you can't go with her, because you and I both know that Callie would do anything for you, for either of us, yes?"

"So?" Jude asks. He wasn't understanding what Stef was getting at.

"So, Callie needs to take care of Callie right now. We can't have her risking her life again, like she did with all of us."

"Where'd she go?"

"All I can tell you is that she's somewhere safe. I promise you, that she'll be okay. But you have to trust me and mama. That's the only way that we can make sure that she stays out of harms way. If she has to worry about you running away to find her, she's going to leave that safe place and put herself in danger again. Can you help us keep her safe?"

Jude stares at Stef for a long while before answering. He was trying to determine whether she was lying or not, but he was never able to fully master that skill. What he did know was that Stef never lied to him yet, and that Callie would want him to trust her. "Okay," he agreed. "Can I see her?"

Stef sighs, "I'm sorry Jude, but none of us can. It's too dangerous to visit her. We don't want Jeff to find out, that we're still in touch with her, right?"

"No…I can't even call her?" he asked sadly.

"Where she is she's not allowed to accept phone calls."

Another voice pops up, "Who can't except phone calls?"

Stef, Jude and Jesus turn towards the doorway and glance at Brandon.

"Callie," Jesus answers flatly.

"She's not coming home," Jude mumbles.

"What do you mean?" Brandon asks with confusion written all over his face.

Stef stands up and walks over to the doorway, "Lets talk somewhere else, yes?"

* * *

Brandon follows his mother downstairs and out into the backyard, "What's going on that you couldn't tell me upstairs?"

Lena comes out and closes the glass screen door and looks at her wife, "Did you tell him?"

"Tell me what?" he asks annoyed with the vagueness of everyone's answers. "Is Callie okay? Did something bad happen at the hospital? It wasn't Jeff was it?" he asks worriedly. He hadn't thought about the possibility of Jeff's return until now.

"No, B. It's nothing like that," his mother assures him as she glances over at Lena before she could continue. "Callie isn't coming home for awhile."

"We need to keep her as far away from the house as possible. For her sake and for all of ours," Lena finishes for her.

"What?" Brandon snaps. "You're joking right?"

Lena spoke up next, "No, Brandon. We're not. Jeff knows where we live, and we believe that he will stop at nothing to get to her. She's not safe here, and neither are you kids are, if he sees that she's still here."

Brandon shook his head and refused to believe anything Lena was telling him. "What is wrong with you two?" he asks in disbelief.

"We're trying to do what's best for everybody."

"By throwing Callie away?"

Lena continues, "We're not throwing Callie away. We're keeping her out of harms way until the police find Jeff."

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! WHAT IF THEY NEVER FIND HIM?" Brandon yells. He was completely outraged by his mothers' plan.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Lena replies.

"I wanna talk to her. Where is she? At the hospital?" Brandon asks, as he begins walking back toward the house.

Stef follows him, "She's not there, B. And you can't contact her. None of us can. It'll defeat the purpose of what we're trying to do."

He whips around, "Then, where is she?"

Both women stay silent and turn to each other for support.

"She's safe. That's all we can tell you," his mother answers.

"That's all you can tell me, or that's all you want to tell me?" he asks with an attitude.

"That's enough Brandon. Our decision is final. Callie's not coming home until we know that this is a safe place for her," Stef crosses her arms letting him know that there is no room for argument.

"Did she agree to this?"

Silence.

"Wait a minute. Does she even know?"

"No, and we're going to keep it that way," Stef answered almost emotionless.

"How could you two do this to her? And ask us all to go along with it? She probably thinks you abandoned her or something? Do you even realize what you're doing?" He glared at both of his mothers but they glanced down, not willing to discuss the situation any longer. "That's great. That's just great. You tell her you love her and you want to adopt her, give me hell for wanting to be with her, and then you get rid of her like she's nothing. I'm sure she's feeling real great about this right now. I hope you two are very happy." With that he stormed off, leaving both Lena and Stef to deal with their own guilt.

* * *

"He's right. We should've told her," Stef glances up at Lena and plops herself down on one of the sofas outside.

Lena takes a seat next to her wife, "If we would've told her, you and I both know she would've given herself up to Jeff. Just to protect us… I know that it's going to be hard for all of us, but its better this way. It's better that she doesn't know Jeff escaped and that he is still out there. This way, she can deal with her own problems too, without having to worry about this one. That's the only way we are going to get her back. The real her."

Stef leans her head on her wife's shoulder, "It makes sense and I know you're right, but I can't help but feel like one of the crappiest parents in the world." Stef glances back up at her wife, "Sorry."

"For what? Saying the word? Or calling me the other crappiest parent?" she smiles.

"Both," Stef breathes out loud. "I just hate that this has to be so hard."

"That's what being a parent is about, getting through the complications."

Stef hugs her wife, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Lena asks, surprised by Stef's apology.

"For doubting and getting angry with you. It wasn't until I had to explain it to the kids, that I realized how right you are. I should've known that this decision was taking a toll on you too... I don't know, I just wanted to be angry with someone, and I took it out on you. But this is for the best and I know that now."

Lena's eyes begin to water as she kisses her wife on the lips, "I was beginning to think you'd never forgive me."

"I could never stay mad at you for that long."

"But Jude—"

Stef interrupts, "I spoke to Jude, and he's calmed down. A LOT… He knows that we would never let anything bad happen to Callie, and that we're doing this to keep her safe."

"Really? He took it that well?"

"Well, after I stole his duffle bag after I caught him packing up, he had no choice but to listen to me."

"What?" Lena asks worriedly.

"Relax, babe. I took care of it."

Lena starts to sit up, "What'd you do with his bag?"

"What bag?" Stef smiles innocently, "I dumped it in the trash. He's definitely not getting it back."

Lena let out a deep breath, "Thank God. We can't have another Callie incident on our hands."

Stef chuckled and then glanced at her wife's straight face, "Sorry, hon. That's not funny," she answered losing the smile on her own.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**So sorry this chapter took so long. I had a lot of difficulty with it. More difficulty, than I have ever had with any other chapter in any of my other fics. I can't explain it. I wanted to update sooner, but I couldn't get my words across the screen.**

* * *

"So, Callie. Now that you heard a little about everyone else, why don't you tell us about yourself," Rita says as she folds her hands over her knees. I don't answer her and she corrects herself, "I'm sorry. I forgot that you preferred to be called Rose. Why is that exactly?"

"Excuse me?" I ask. I'm honestly caught off guard by her question.

"Where did you get the name from?"

"Oh, friends," I reply simply. It was a half-truth. There was no way that I'd admit that I got it from a group of prostitutes, on the night I became one. Regardless of how screwed up the stories, these other girls, told were.

Carmen speaks, "Why'd they call you that? They didn't like your real name or something?"

Kiara laughs and Rita looks over to her, "What?" she asks innocently. "It was funny."

"Something like that," I answer. "After a while, I guess it sort of stuck."

"So what brings you here?" Gabby asks. "I mean, if you're here, you must be here for a reason?"

"Yeah, what'd you do?" Kiara asks with a smile on her face. She actually seemed excited to find out.

_Callie tells me to stay quiet. Let them think whatever they want._

_But Rose wants me to scare the crap out of them._

"My foster parents dropped me off here, after my ex-pimp held them all hostage and tried to kill them," I answer flatly.

_Rose won._

Rita's face goes pale and so does Carmen's.

"What?" Gabby asks with both worry and anger evident in her voice.

"They're all okay and everything. Nobody got hurt." I leave out the part of me getting shot.

"You're joking right?" Cole asks.

I fake-laugh, "You don't have to believe me. After all, I could be lying to you all for my own entertainment."

All of the girls exchange worried looks with one another.

"Then, what are you doing here?" Becca asks angrily. She turns to Rita, "You don't seriously think that we're staying in the same house as this…"

"This what?" I ask. "You're a crack-addict. I really wouldn't be talking if I were you," I reply as I eye her up and down.

Kiara laughs, "Damn! She told you, Becca."

"Kiara," Rita warns, which causes Kiara to glance down at her hands in an effort to avert her gaze. "Callie, we know you're new here, but we don't call each other names in this house."

_I didn't lie_, I thought myself.

"Sorry," I say, even though I really didn't mean it. Becca's attitude was uncalled for and Rose was calling her out. "And besides, the guy went to jail. So you have nothing to worry about."

* * *

"Here," Daphne says as she hands me a small bag of seeds. "Plant these over there," she points to other side of the house.

Rose is daring me to punch her, but Callie doesn't want to get into any more trouble. Regardless of whether or not she deserves it. I grab the seeds from her hand and glare into her eyes for a long time.

Within seconds I see Rita come up from behind her, "Everything okay here?"

"Yeah," we both respond at the same time, and I walk over to the side of the house to plant the sunflower seeds.

_I hate sunflower,s_ is all I can think of when I'm digging a whole through the ground.

_Why do we have to plant something that's only going to attract bees?_

I consider shoving them into my pocket and eating them later, when my shovel hits something hard into the ground.

_What the hell?_ I keep digging to find out what it is and see that it's a black plastic bag. When I finally dig it out all the way, I can tell that there's something in it. I glance around and see if anyone saw me discover the bag, but they didn't. Out of curiosity, I open the plastic bag and find:

A cell-phone,

A charger,

Some calling cards,

And a note that reads: **You're Welcome.**

I look up again and am relieved, when I find out, that no one's watching me. I shove the phone and the other contents into my pocket and un-tuck my shirt so that, they wouldn't be noticed through my jeans.

* * *

Curfew was at 9pm, but I stayed up a little later so that I could use the phone. I glance over and see that Kiara is sound asleep before I make my way to the bathroom, without turning on any of the lights.

Once I finally figure out how the calling card works, I stared at the phone for a while, wondering what I was doing.

_Who was I going to call?_

My first instinct is to call Jude, but he doesn't have a cellphone and calling the house phone would be too risky. I couldn't have Stef and Lena find out that I was trying to contact them.

Before I'm able to rationalize anymore, I'm calling Brandon's number.

I let it ring five times, before I decide to hang up. But just as I'm about to press the red button, I hear his voice. And it was desperate, as if he had been expecting my call for hours, "Callie?"

I smile the moment I hear it, regardless of the situation. "Yeah, it's me," I answer loudly, and my heart stops when I realized that someone might've heard me. I automatically jump into the empty bathtub and sink down into the farthest corner of it, while staring at the bottom of the door, for any shadows on the other side of it.

His voice changes to sudden excitement, "Oh, my God! This is great! You found a way to contact me."

I laugh softly, "Yeah. Are you okay? Is Jude okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. We're all fine. We miss you. I can't believe my moms did this to you. I'm so sorry."

"I can. And I know it's not your fault. The most important thing is that they kept Jude. That's all that matters to me."

_LIE!_ Rose wants to shout! But this time it's Callie keeping me together.

Brandon speaks, "That's not all that matters to me, Cal. I want to see you. I need to see you."

Callie's telling me to refrain from temptation, _You're going to get in even more trouble if they catch you._

Rose shuts her up, _What more trouble can you get into? You've already lost everything that's important to you. The least you can do is get one person back! Especially if it's the only person who wants to see you too._

Not surprisingly, it's Rose that gives me the courage to say yes.

* * *

I had almost reached the park that we agreed to meet at, but Callie was begging me to turn back around, _He's going to hurt you. _

_Brandon's no different. _

_Every single person you care about, turns their backs on you. _

_Why do you constantly put yourself into these positions? _

_They always end the same. _

_You and Jude end up alone._

_Only this time Jude isn't with us anymore._

Rose pushes Callie's thoughts aside, _Brandon still cares. _

_He's the only one that cares. _

_Do not lose him!_

The moment I see Brandon's car pull up by the park, I can't help but smile. _He came back for me. He has to really love me, right?_

I'm taken out of my thoughts, and I run over to Lena's car. I slow down when I see his worried face staring at me through the driver's-side window.

I open the car door and hop in, "Hey… What's wrong?" I ask after he doesn't answer.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just surprised to see you is all," he says as he reaches his body over and grabs the back of my head to pull me in closer for a kiss.

After at least ten seconds, I pull him away, "Are you sure you're okay, Brandon?"

"No, I'm great. I'm just so glad to see that you're okay. We're both okay….At least now we are," he says as he puts the car in drive.

"Where are we going?"

"Wherever you want to go?" he says, as he stares at me with a desperate look in his eyes.

"What do you mean?" I ask in confusion.

"Well, we can't go back home, since Jeff will find you there—"

"What?" I interrupt him immediately in hopes that he didn't just say what I just thought he said.

"I can't take you back home, because Jeff knows where we live. So, we have to leave California. Anywhere you want, Cal."

"…Jeff is in jail. The police caught him," I try to assure him.

He pulls the car over and puts it in park, before he responds, "Callie…Jeff escaped from the hospital."

I forget how to breathe for a few seconds. "…How?"

"It doesn't matter," he tries to shrug the thought away.

"It does to me!" I yell.

_This can't be happening. _

_This can't be real._

"He got one of the guards to loosen his cuffs, and he snapped his neck. That's why Moms sent you to the group home. They didn't want Jeff to come after you."

"That can't be true," I say as I shake my head.

_Callie and Rose both refuse to believe that he escaped again._

_That he got out._

_Again._

"It is, Callie."

"No, that's a lie! You're moms just sent me away, so that they wouldn't have to deal with me, so that they wouldn't have to deal with us being together, or so that they wouldn't have to deal with all of the problems they think that I'm going to bring back to them. They probably just told you that Jeff escaped, so that you wouldn't get mad, because they dropped me off at that stupid group home. They probably just figured that was the only way you would stop seeing me."

"But I'm not going to stop seeing you. That's why I came here. Because I love you Callie. I packed a bag and grabbed all my savings just so we could be together. Just so we could get away from Jeff. And if Jeff's not really out there, then we need to get away from my Moms because there is no way in hell that I'm going to live my life without you in it."

Brandon had to stop talking. I didn't want to listen to his words anymore.

"You can't do that. You have to go home, Brandon. This was a mistake," I say as I try to open the car door handle and get out, but he pulls me back inside.

"This isn't a mistake, Callie! I'm not leaving here without you."

"Well, I'm not leaving here with you either! I'm not going to take you away from your family. Your family loves you."

"And I love you. I don't want to be home without you, when I know that you're locked up and you're miserable in there."

"That wasn't the deal, Brandon. I agreed to meet you here. I didn't agree to take you away from your family. To run away!"

"Then what is the deal then, huh? What is it you want to do here? Do you want me to leave you here? Is that it? To forget about you, like you don't even exist?" Brandon yells, which scares me because I had never seen him get so angry.

But Rose keeps me focused, "Yes, Brandon! That's exactly what I want you to do!" I lower my voice, "It's what everybody else does."

Brandon calms down too, "Well, I'm not everybody else, Callie," he says as he places his hand on my chin and tries to make me face him. Callie tries to fight back, _Don't do this. You know what's going to happen if you do._

But Rose takes over after a few seconds and practically leaps over the seat to kiss him.

Both Callie and Rose had to feel something. They both wanted to feel wanted, but only Rose was willing to let that happen. And the only person, she would let break through those barriers, was Brandon.

I press my lips hard against his and he presses just as hard right back.

I have to keep my eyes closed.

I can't bring myself to see, what I'm actually doing. Because I know that it would only make me stop.

He backs his face away from mines and whispers, "I would do anything for you."

I finally open my eyes and see the gleam in his, from the moonlight shining through the window.

Surprisingly, seeing him didn't make me want to stop anymore. Just as I was about to kiss him again, we both instantly snap out of it, at the sound of a hard knock on the windshield glass.

I instantly remove myself from his lap, afraid of what I would see.

My first thought is Jeff.

But it wasn't.

"Callie, get out of the car! And let's go!" Rita yells as she opens the passenger-side door and grabs me by my arm, pulling me out of the car.

TBC…

**Sorry if it wasn't up to par with your expectations. I'm not too happy about this entire chapter to be honest. But eh?**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Okay, so I kept getting requests to update this. I do apologize if I take a few days to update it though. I'm writing a ton of them at once (because I keep getting these stupid ideas to start a new fic & then I regret it right after I post it, because I realize that it takes a ridiculous amount of time from my personal life. Ugh!) **_

_**Anyways, here's your chapter**_

* * *

_**Previously:**__ I press my lips hard against his and he presses just as hard right back. _

_I have to keep my eyes closed._

_I can't bring myself to see, what I'm actually doing. Because I know, that it would only make me stop. _

_He backs his face away from mines and whispers, "I would do anything for you."_

_I finally open my eyes and see the gleam in his, from the moonlight shining through the window. _

_Surprisingly, seeing him didn't make me want to stop anymore. Just as I was about to kiss him again, we both instantly snap out of it, at the sound of a hard knock on the windshield glass._

_I instantly remove myself from his lap, afraid of what I would see. _

_My first thought is Jeff. _

_But it wasn't._

"_Callie, get out of the car! And let's go!" Rita yells as she opens the passenger-side door and grabs me by my arm, pulling me out of the car._

* * *

"What the hell?" I ask as I try to pull my arm from her, but she refused to let go of her grasp on it.

"Why did you leave the house, Callie!?" she yells at me and her voice was louder than I had expected. It startled me, and I couldn't understand why I was so afraid to answer her. "Callie?!"

"It's Rose!" I snap.

"HEY! GET OFF OF HER!" Brandon yells as he gets out of the car and runs over to Rita and I. He raises his hand to loosen her grip on my arm, but she immediately shoves her finger into his face.

"I would think very carefully, before I'd do that if I were you," she warned. He stares back at her challengingly. "You have three options," she says while showing him three fingers now. "You can challenge me, and I can call the cops and have you arrested. I've already written down your license-plate number, so that won't be too difficult. Or you can refuse to leave, and I'll just have to call your mother, Brandon Foster." Brandon and I look at each other, surprised by the fact that Rita knew who he was. "Or you can make the smart decision, by getting back in your car and driving off, making sure never to come back and see Callie again. Which is it going to be?"

He stares at her for a long time, and I could tell that he's scared.

"Brandon, just go. I'll be fine, okay?" I plead.

"You're not fine. None of this is fine, Callie," he tries to remind me.

But I channel Rose to put an end to all of this.

_She was the stronger one._

_She could let him go._

"Brandon, just go!" I yell.

_He glances over to me, and I could see the hurt I put into his eyes. _

_I could see that I've let him down, by not fighting for us. _

_But he would have to see that by not fighting for us, that's exactly what I was doing. _

_I couldn't let him get arrested._

_I couldn't let Stef and Lena yank him away from my life too._

_It was bad enough that I lost everything._

_I wasn't going to lose him too. _

_Even if it meant letting him go for a little while._

He nods his head, and I could tell he was trying hard to hold back his tears, "Alright, Callie. I'll go."

I watch as he walks over to the car and gets in. I could feel Rita glaring at me with anger, but I don't dare look at her face. Before I could see him turn on the engine, she pulls me in the opposite direction, "Let's go!"

* * *

I follow her into her silver Toyota Camry and get in reluctantly. She watches Lena's car drive off from the rearview mirror, before she turns to face me. "What the hell was that, Callie?"

_I ignore her and keep staring straight ahead. _

_She didn't say my name._

_I don't have to tell her anything._

"Hello! I'm talking to you!" she yells louder.

"No, you're talking to Callie," I snap back at her. "I've already told you a dozen times to call me Rose."

"Fine. Rose. What the hell were you doing sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night to go see your boyfriend."

"He's not my—"

"Whatever he is! You know the rules. You are not allowed to leave the house!"

"I don't belong there," I mumble.

"You don't? Really?"

"Yes, really," I challenge.

"So, you didn't end up in juvie?"

"That was awhile ago, Rita. And I served my time there so— And that's not the reason why I'm here."

"Then, why are you here?" She folds her hands and places them on her lap.

I pause as I think about her question, "…I don't even know anymore."

"Let me rephrase the question… Why do you think you're here?"

"…Because I messed up… Bad."

"How so?"

I look over to her and see her staring straight at me. She doesn't look that angry as she did, when she first pulled me out of the car. "It doesn't even matter," I tell her. "It wouldn't change anything, so..."

_Rose doesn't want to let her in._

_And why should she?_

_We don't even know this woman._

"Alright, Rose. I'm not going to force you to talk about something you don't want to. But I am going to let you know that this. What you just did tonight, will not be happening again. I've already told you that you're not allowed to leave the house under any circumstances. If you keep refusing to follow the rules, I'm going to have to recommend that you go to a more restrictive group home."

Her last sentence caught my attention, "But I haven't done anything to put me into this situation in the first place," I argue. "I'm not like Carmen, who got arrested for kidnapping someone, or like Kiara, who pulled a knife on another person, or like—"

"So what you said today wasn't true?" I roll my eyes as I wait for her to continue. "…Your pimp didn't hold your family hostage."

"They're not my family," I correct her.

"Really? Because they went through a lot of trouble to get you in here."

I fake-laugh, "Yeah, because they wanted me out of the house."

"And you didn't want to leave?"

"What I want never matters… As you can tell," I gesture toward the inside of the car as if I was saying, _I wanted to be with Brandon tonight and look what happened_.

"It does matter, Rose. It really does. But it's also important to realize, that you can't always have what we want."

I look back towards the window, "Yeah, well I'd settle for at least once."

Tbc…

* * *

**P.S. I'll be updating the Aftermath later on tonight. About to count the votes and write the next chapter. OMG! I HATE COUNTING THOSE VOTES! But it has to be done. I'll also be updating Maturing, The Nightmare Vacation, Lena's Story, and my newest L&O fic this weekend. Maybe more. It depends on if I have time, and how easily the chapters come to me.**

**Anyways, let me know your thoughts.**

**And what do you guys think about Rita? I kind of like her no-nonsense attitude, but I'm curious to know how you guys feel about her. She kind of reminds me of Stef a little bit :P**


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